I use time outs, but only for 10 or 15 minutes. Longer than that, I really think the effectiveness wears off.

I put them in a room alone for that time period, let them out and if they resume the unwanted behavior, back in. If not, then they stay out. Usually they get it quickly if you are consistent.

My treatment to her majesty when she gets a bit 'peas above sticks'. However the more liberal nature of her mother seems a receptive 'court of appeal' for early release. Trouble is Irina can't see the ongoing change in her nature. Now I tend to ignore her generally and whilst she does scrape at my door, it soon passes and she's away to something else. As I said in five weeks time, the whole paradigm shifts for seven weeks.

There's no perception without contrast, but sadly only some have the vision, or the discipline to see see either?:(

Hi Doc,

Just now seeing your thread, I am on holiday and intermittent access to the internet.

I firmly believe some of the important commands a dog needs to know is "drop it" and |leave it" You could also add in "Give it".

It sounds like you have not worked either of these with your gal. Time to start. Use treats for trades initially. YorkieTalk Jilly always has some great detailed advice, I think she probably has some thread on here about drop it or leave it:)

But your gal should never ever snarl or snap at her family. That is bad behaviour at its' worst. Time-outs are great, but so is a very firm and disgusted NO.

Now I have an eight month old large gal, who is entering into adolescence, and she has been taught bite inhibition since she was 8wks old. But she as all the breed loves to do, is to take their owners mouth in their jaw. This absolutely can not be allowed. For one thing it would scare the bejusus out of any guest we had in the home, if she would do it to them. So here we are eight months in, and she is still doing it to myself and hubby. These last two weeks she has been very very strongly disciplined for it! And immediately crated for lets say 10-15 minutes. And the second infraction she is taken out of the den, into a room by herself.

If she ever growled or snarled at us, she would be crated over-night, and fed in her crate, and separated from the family members.

Razzle our YT has wanted to resource guard us/most especially me, and immediately he is removed from the bed or the chair, or my lap, and crated.

Stick to your guns, start training with your gal on Drop it/ Leave it etc, and hopefully your Russian wife will see the benefits of same:)

Thanks Gemy
 

Your time out from vacation and help is much appreciated. I've stuck to my 'gun' and after an initial re-buff upon being told NO - very firmly, I have to say she's been good. No repeat of the snarling response. This is essentially a very happy, good natured little creature, who seems to have high energy screwball periods. I got her to desist from the hand bite/wrestle routine quite easily a few days back. This game has only ever been between the two of us. For example she'll never wrestle her Mom's hand (or anyone else's) - just not interested - only mine will do! Trouble is, it's a bit of fun that I also enjoy too. Since her spay, she's also become interested in other dogs, particularly a shy little Yorkie boy round here. He could be her double, but he's coy and Crystal has very much the 'Tomboy' approach! I do feel some sort of hormone interchange has taken place since the spay, she's definitely changed a bit. I can't quite define it yet?

Also got Mom to understand that short 10 mins in the sin bin is definitely necessary for future harmony...

I agree with about everything posted here except for jailing dogs for extended periods and/or overnight. Dogs don't have the memories that humans, have and personally I don't believe that lengthy periods are any better than 10 - 15 minutes. I live with three dogs who came to me as biters and only one still bites, but that is because he is new to me and is a project in the works. The other two don't bite now unless I hit their triggers which are well known to me now. There are some things that simply don't leave a traumatized dog. But, we are not talking about a traumatized dog here....she is a beloved family member and I am quite sure she will be turned around much quicker than the ones I have. I used 10 - 15 minute time outs with them...sometimes it would take 3 back to back ones....but that is what got them. Associative memory ... they associated their behavior to not being able to stay with the family. One of them actually welcomed being jailed and when he got out of control he would see me heading for his crate and he would actually beat me to it. It gave him time for a breather. He did not see it as negative and/or punishment which is what we strive to maintain...that, to me, is positive training. I don't usually recommend things that I have not tried and I have definitely used time outs .. and I still believe in what I have posted. My guess is that after about 15 minutes a dog has no idea why he is jailed. Similar to pooping in the house....if you find it later on it is useless to do anything. They don't know what you are talking about. Oh, they may look guilty but that is because they are reacting to their owner's facial and verbal gestures.

Hi Mark, I've read your story with Gucci and you have my utmost respect for the empathy you showed him and I bet he thinks the world of his Dad.

In our home, I'm the geriatric and more and more there are times when I look forward to quieter times. However, she may see me out? :animal37:)

Last night apparently (I was asleep) she woke mom and was making a lot of noise in the kitchen. She then decided to try her 'wall tunneling' activities after being put in the hall (sinbin) and was then confined to the 'inner cell' (bathroom because it's tiled). She was there until this morning. The sentence was prolonged, because again there were bared teeth and growling when she was reprimanded. Mom's been at work today and Crystal's been all sweetness and light with dad. I agree about 'time-outs' and found two, or three in a series very effective, when she tries the 'journey to the centre of the earth' show, especially when Irina is away visiting her daughter.

I attach a pic to show the level of application this example of frustration has...:(

First off, your description are quite hilarious.:D

But, I have to say that I wonder what you call "reprimanding" because if you are yelling at her or speaking to her in a way that is intimidating, that very well may be the reason she is snarling at you. She could very well be scared to death.

I once was correcting a little yorkie who came to me as a little crazy thing. I had him for 10 years and he was the biggest challenge of my life in terms of biting. I made a choice to live with this crazy dog, but that was mostly because of my son who was in high school at the time. I doubt that many people would have kept Maxwell. He was BAD. He was in my kitchen and hiked his leg on a chair....I went to pick him up and carry him outside while saying the "no" word. As soon as I reached for him he started flipping out snarling at me. I then picked up the nearest thing...a magazine and waved it at him all the while calling him a bad dog...which made it worse. My son came around the corner and asked me what the he-double-ll I was doing. I said look at this dog...I am not putting up with this...and blah blah blah...whatever else I said. It was then that my son called me out for my behavior telling me how big I was and how tiny Max was...and what did I espect since his teeth were all he had to protect himself. Mind you, I never hurt him....but, as I though about, I certainly frightened him. So...Maxwell and my son taught me a lesson that day. After that, I was able to manage Max....oh, he was still the same challenge but it became easier.

Maybe you are not intimidating her, but your language indicates that you very well may be without realizing it.

I hope you read this with the intent I meant. I have NO idea how you are with her...this is just what I have derived from your posts. And, meant only to be a suggestion IF it is needed. :)

To me, time outs don't train dogs not to do the bad thing it just stops the behavior for the present and they usually re-offended unless retrained in how to properly behave. Most don't have memories long enough to recall the association of why they were removed for long though some might. Those I would put in time out, because they were often troubled dogs, would bark, scratch/dig/destroy, pace in OCD circles or howl during the time-out. It didn't work that well for me.

I don't know how many times you have tried it, but I have with numerous dogs and it worked out just fine. And, trust me, I have taken in many troubled dogs and they never exhibited such behaviors in a 10 - 15 minute time out. If they did, I probably would be discussing medications with a vet. Now, leave them for long periods and yes, they will do whatever they can to get out of jail. So would I!!! What I am suggesting *IS* retraining in how to properly behave. They quickly learn (usually) that the unacceptable behavior will put them in another place, not the desired place with their people. It just needs to be consistent and constant until they understand.

This is not about memories....this is about taking advantage of associated memory.

Understanding Dog Memory

I've used the method in one or two cases successfully but I just never had over-all success with it, I guess mainly because I didn't like getting up and trucking the dog - especially those 110 lbs. truculent GSD's, some of whom were human-aggressive when they first got here - off down the long hall into another room so I probably didn't keep it up long enough or often enough and found just stopping the behavior right then and there in the room worked better for me - lol - with far less walking up and down the hall to the spare room. And those big guys, especially newcomers who don't know the rules of the house yet, have a big, loud voice that can drive you nuts in a hurry and can could trash a piece of furniture, a wall or wooden door in no time when I wasn't right there to stop them, so I was never well-pleased with it for those reasons. For the most part, I'm against sedating an animal because he doesn't want to be left alone in a room, especially when I can address the problem without the time-out and problems it can create with certain dogs.

Still, the neat thing about dog training is there can be many ways to fix a problem and can usually be tailored to the dog owner's likes and needs and their dog's.

Yeah, well I am suggesting this for yorkies since this thread is about a yorkie. Since you say you have done it successfully, then I guess your post was not exactly correct saying you don't think it works?

I have no experience with large dogs and I am quite sure it would be handled in a different manner. For instance, you cannot easily pick them up as you noted.

Thanks and yes I fully appreciate your comments. Perhaps we're too soft with her. It's established she an expert at 'Divide & Conquer' already. I only have to tell her she's naughty, or bad and she puts her head quizzically on one side and looks disappointed. Whether it's in me, or herself I can't make out? but it's a very earnest and lugubrious appraisal. I only raise my voice very occasionally, as loud noises really scare her and it's against my nature anyway. I do think we've spoiled her too much and she now thinks she's in charge maybe?

Two other points to recount. I've always fed her little morsels when I eat, toast in the morning and I save a tiny piece of burger etc. at suppertime. She'd started to become very demanding on this front, so I now lock her out while I'm dining completely, in the evening. At breakfast she now has to wait sitting or lying until I've finished before her little corner of toast is offered. But only this last few days has this more disciplined attitude prevailed.

I also give her a few 'Kellogs All Bran' half flakes as a treat through out the day. Could these be charging her up with fiber? Tonight I tried to exhaust this pocket-nuke, with chasing her ball on the beach. The little monkey went on and on and on - unbelievable - until I was exhausted. Possibly, she's an alien cyborg, she does respond to nano, nano, now I think about it?:devils2:

ROFL .. sounds actually like she has been training you. :p

You certainly have a flair for the English language, I love reading your posts. Although sometimes with the English expressions I am not too clear on your exact meaning:D I remember the first time I visited England as a 20 something lass, I was in my friends' cousins home, and a young lad, said he would "knock me up in the morning". I was "gobsmacked". Knew he probably didn't mean what the North American meaning of "knock me up", the cousins set him straight so to speak, by saying that is a rather rude expression in N.A. and Gail it means here that he will call for you in the morning:D

In terms of your pocket-nuke, gosh I love that expression, so evocative, a lot like hunting hummingbirds with hand grenades:) I think she is a happy, healthy young lass. They have so much energy! Good to see and hear. Now I know you are by the sea somewhere in England, could you try to swim with her? 15 minutes of swimming is worth at least 30 minutes of running. Don't know with tides n stuff if it would be safe or not to do.

The other thing you could try is to engage her mind at home. Find the toy, puzzle toys, do some agility at home things with her. Go seek Moms or Dads what-ever the case. Build a tiny obstacle course in the living room/hallway. Have her for ex: jump up on a low stool then "sit for a treat", then go over to a bowl you have placed and Find a treat. Have her circle around a chair - to get a treat. Build a low wall like thing with pillows and have her walk over the pillows to the other end, and get a treat;)

I personally like dancing with dogs. I play some great music, and then I try to dance with my dogs. A great hullabaloo ensues. Wonderfull fun.

Use your very creative mind to engage her in "silly" games that will both exhaust her mentally and physically.

You have alluded a couple of times to the "spay| procedure and if it has affected her personality. While not common, it can happen. How-ever from what you have written, it seems like she is just a healthy growing into her adulthood kind of gal.

Some concern of course with the repetitive (twice) growling n snarling, but again with training etc this should be resolved very shortly.

Keep up the great work Doc!